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This critic has been reviewing Tommy Femia even since before he made his worldwide name as the best Judy Garland impersonator on the globe, two decades ago. In those days, he was doing impressions of Garland at parties and events and such, but the bulk of his act (as directed by the stellar Anthony Santelmo, Jr.) at the old Judy's on 44th Street, went in an entirely different direction. By the time yours truly was able to catch him as Garland, in his second week at Rose's Turn

(the first week was completely sold out upon announcement and not even us press jockeys could squeeze ourselves in without advance notice), he was simultaneously launching the cabaret career of that week's special guest, a certain Steven Brinberg as Barbra Streisand (or Simply Barbra, as he's come to be known). Femia has since, over the last two decades, become the single most sought-after Garland impressionist on earth, and will most assuredly continue to be so, what with a new gig coming up this week in Fort Lauderdale. But his most recent turn, at Don't Tell Mama, was most remarkable because it included a guest appearance by Adam Feldman, the wunderkind who has single-handedly revolutionized Time Out New York's pages on cabaret and theatre, and brilliantly proves no slouch in the vocal department either.

What is perhaps most amazing here is that, neither having seen Femia's full act since 1997, not one iota of the show has changed, but for some slight modifications to hair and makeup and costume, and all have only improved over time. He's still singing "The Greatest Love of All," and delivering the word "dignity" without uttering a single vowel. He's still belting out "Home, Sweet Heaven." Femia is, in fact, still so completely Judy and even more than ever, that it's impossible not to fall in love with him and his portrayal all over again. And even those members of the throng who've seen him over and over and then over again, will still be delighted, as always. It should equally be noted that the elder Femias, parents Ann and Cosmo, are STILL attending the show week after week, and looking as ageless and radiant as they did nearly twenty years ago.

Which brings us to Adam Feldman. Now, let me be frank, if I may. One of the biggest risks one can ever take is, when one is known as an entertainment reviewer, to dare to get up on a cabaret stage and vocally emote. Yours truly did it for the better part of seven sold-out months at Danny's Skylight Room and was handed a MAC nomination in the process in '94. Wayman Wong of the Daily News did it at Eighty Eight's in 1996, and brought the house down. And the late lamented Bob Harrington sang on a stage with Maggie Wirth at the old Panache (run by Sidney Myer) and graced the audience at Eighty Eights for the '94 Christmas Show, and did a comic monologue that had the entire throng in stitches. Feldman, who has had several major throat surgeries to address a difficulty and will be undergoing another not long from now, took to the stage like the greatest vocalist on the planet and literally tore into Carole King's "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" and Dan Hill's "Sometimes When We Touch." If one had to name the greatest surprise of this cabaret season before it begins anew in September, it would most certainly be Adam Feldman. While his vocal distress isn't inaudible, he absolutely possesses the requisite cabaret nuances of communication and intimacy; in point of fact, his performance could perhaps best be described as a very urban and sophisticated Joe Cocker, for its brilliance in touching an audience and yet somehow retaining the quintessence of class.

A word to the wise reading this review. You may be saying to yourselves, "Oh, I've already seen Tommy's Garland show a million times. Why should I go back?" Go back. PLEASE, go back. You'll be far from disappointed.

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